Method for engaging professional services through a service brokerage via a network such as the internet

ABSTRACT

A method for allowing a user to access a plurality of service providers through a service brokerage via a network such as the Internet. The service brokerage establishes accounts with the service providers and the user. Once a user logs in to the service brokerage, the user is presented with a set of private service provider chat rooms that are on on-line. The set may be chosen based upon a predetermined criterion. Once the user selects a chat room of a chosen provider, the service provider must allow the user access to that service provider&#39;s chat room. A user profile may be provided to the service provider to aid in the admission process. Once a user is inside a chat room, the chat room is closed and the user and service provider may privately interact in the occupied chat room via the Internet. The service provider may have access to, and modify, a user information file of the user during the session, and the user may have access to the file once the session is over. The user&#39;s account is charged with a user service fee, and the service provider&#39;s account is credited with a service provider fee, according to the length of time the user spends in the occupied chat room of the service provider. The user may also be given the option, for given service providers, a telephone connection.

CONTINUING APPLICATION DATA

[0001] This application is a continuation in part of application Ser.No. 09/401,715 filed Sep. 23, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,412.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The field of the present invention is directed to methods toprovide access to services via the Internet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The economy of the United States, and several other countries, isincreasingly dependent upon value added by services, as opposed totangible goods. Vast amounts of people, including professionals (such asdoctors, lawyers, accountants) and service providers (such as speciallytrained technicians and people with specialized skills or knowledge),are employed by a service industry instead of by a manufacturing ordistribution industry that is commonly associated with consumer ordurable goods. As the pace of knowledge and technical advances hasincreased, the demand for specialists with detailed knowledge in narrowfields has increased. This has led to an ever-expanding market for suchservices. However, while some such professionals have banded together tomarket their services, and provide a mechanism by which their collectiveservices can be accessed, the distribution of such services is stilllimited by geography and a fundamental lack of an easy, economical, andviable service brokerage for such services. Furthermore, while therehave been great advances in the production and delivery of goods, suchas the “just in time” concept, no such breakthrough has heretofore beenmade in the field of services.

[0004] Accordingly, a need exists for an improved method of distributingservices of multiple service providers to end users via a servicebrokerage. This invention solves this need through the use of theInternet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] A preferred embodiment of the present invention is generallydirected to a method for allowing a user to access one of a plurality ofservice providers through a service brokerage via the Internet. The useris presented with a set of private service provider chat rooms that areon-line, and each of these rooms is associated with a service provider.The set of private service providers can optionally be selectedaccording to a pre-selected criterion of the user. The user selects achat room of a chosen service provider, obtains access to the chat room,and then privately interacts with the chosen service provider via theInternet. The chosen service provider can receive a user profile beforethe user enters that provider's chat room and control access to the chatroom by rejecting the request of the user to enter the chat room. Theuser's account is charged with a user service fee, and the serviceprovider's account is credited with a service provider fee, according tothe length of time the user occupies the chat room.

[0006] In a first, separate aspect of the present invention, a userinformation file associated with the user is created with the servicebrokerage. The user information file can be made available to a chosenservice provider who can modify the file. The user information file canalso be transferred, along with the user, to a second service providerin a second chat room, who can also modify the file. The user can haveaccess to the user information file after leaving any occupied chatroom.

[0007] In another, separate aspect of the present invention, the user ispresented with a schedule for a chosen chat room. The schedule canprovide information as to when the chat room is expected to be on-lineor unoccupied. The user can be allowed to sign a waiting list for whenthe chat room becomes available, and the user can receive automaticnotification of such availability.

[0008] In another, separate aspect of the present invention, access to achat room can be denied if the user account is below a predeterminedthreshold value, such as zero. An available amount of credit can beestablished in a user account by a payment from the user to the serviceprovider, and the available credit can be reduced as the user account ischarged a user service fee according to the length of time the userspends in an occupied chat room. The amount of time that a user canspend in a chat room can be limited by an available amount of credit orby a pre-selected threshold that cannot be exceeded within apre-selected period of time absent a pre-selected approval process.

[0009] In another, separate aspect of the present invention, a useraccount can be provided with coupons to reduce the user service fee forthe user's access to one or more of the plurality of service providersaccording to a pre-selected criterion.

[0010] In another, separate aspect of the present invention, a user mayselect connection to a service provider via an alternate connection,such as a separate phone line.

[0011] Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention toprovide an improved method for allowing users to access a plurality ofservice providers through a service brokerage via the Internet.

[0012] This and further objects and advantages will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art in connection with the drawings and the detaileddescription of the preferred embodiment set forth below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013]FIG. 1 is a flow chart depicting the user log-in process of thepreferred embodiment.

[0014]FIG. 2 is a flow chart depicting the service provider log-inprocess of the preferred embodiment.

[0015]FIG. 3 is a flow chart depicting a service provider web site orpages of the preferred embodiment.

[0016]FIG. 4 is a flow chart depicting the user selection/purchaseprocess of the preferred embodiment.

[0017]FIG. 5 is a flow chart depicting chat room entry in the process ofthe preferred embodiment.

[0018]FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a combined chat room entry andtelephone connection option according to a preferred embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a servicebrokerage establishes a service provider web site and/or pages and chatrooms and is the “middleman” that acts to connect multiple users withmultiple service providers over a network such as the Internet. Theservice brokerage may take any one of a number of forms. It may be acompany that provides access to service providers within the company. Itmay be an association of independent service providers, such as areferral service. It may be a service brokerage that acts as aclearinghouse for allowing individual service providers and users togain access to each other, much the same as a stock exchange acts as abrokerage for buying and selling stocks, except that the commodity isservices instead of stocks. Or it may be page(s) on a company (such as avendor) web site connecting to a third party service provider forproviding contract customer service or the like.

[0020] The service brokerage may be accessed by the user via anyavailable suitable network such as the Internet, a LAN, or a WAN. Theuser may interface using a personal computer, dedicated terminal, a PDA(personal digital assistant), cellular phone, a kiosk, or the like.

[0021] In a preferred arrangement, the service brokerage establishes arelationship with multiple service providers. As part of this process,the service brokerage may develop an information file that is specificto an individual service provider. This file may contain a variety ofinformation, such as the qualifications or references of the serviceprovider, preferences of the service provider, areas of specializationof the service provider, dates the service provider is available, thetime zone from which the service provider will be providing itsservices, limitations the service provider places on access to itsservices, rates of the service provider for its services, and so forth.

[0022] Once the service brokerage has a relationship with a serviceprovider, the service brokerage may assign the service provider its ownchat room and, if appropriate, its own service provider account. In anespecially preferred embodiment, this account may automatically becredited with payments for services provided by the service providerthrough the service brokerage. The service provider may then access itsaccount, or have some or all of the value of its account transferred toanother account, such as an automatic payment to a specified accountwith a financial institution.

[0023] A “chat room” according to the preferred embodiments is definedas a location (such as a web site or web page) or means by which a userand a service provider may interact via the Internet, or other network.For example, several service providers currently provide chat roomswhere multiple parties may gather and send messages to anybody withinthe group. Once a user is in a chat room, the interaction between theuser and the service provider may take on any form of mediacommunication now available, or available in the future, over theInternet/network. Thus, for example, the interaction could be by e-mail,by voice signal, by video image, or by a combination of such media.

[0024] In one configuration, in addition to adding providing privatechat rooms, the service brokerage may provide the user with the optionto select the type of communication in the chat room, for example typedcommunication, voice-over-IP, video conference, or any other availablecommunication form, or a combination thereof. The service brokerage mayalso provide the user with the option to select a telephone option.Though the service brokerage may provide for the telephone connectionservices, the telephone services may preferably be provided by a thirdparty telecom provider.

[0025] in a preferred method, the telephone option may comprise thesteps of:

[0026] allowing the user to select the communication format from theavailable communications formats for the chosen service provider;

[0027] if the telephone option is selected, obtaining the phone numberof the user (the system may request the user to input his/her telephonenumber to which he/she wants the connection be made, or the user profilemay already have one or more telephone numbers of the user stored, andthe user may select which of the numbers for the connection);

[0028] obtaining the phone number of the service provider (the systemshould already have the service provider's telephone number or it couldaccept an input from the service provider);

[0029] sending the two telephone numbers to a third party telephonicservice provider who then (1) makes calls to each of the serviceprovider and the user, (2) after a suitable introduction recording andacceptance by the person answering the phone (for example, the recordedin introduction may say “per your selection to arrange for a privateconference with your chosen adviser, please press the number 2 on yourtelephone keypad if you accept), connects the two parties (the systemmay also send the third party telephonic service provider a maximumconnect time, based upon for example the maximum credit available in theuser account), (3) disconnect the parties, (4) send connection time databack to the service brokerage;

[0030] applying the connect time as applicable to the user account orother fee arrangement.

[0031] To ensure that the correct parties are connected, the telecomprovider may also send the user and optionally the service provider aconfirmatory email (instant message or the like) confirming that theconnection has been made.

[0032] It is especially preferred that the chat rooms of the preferredembodiments be private so that confidential information may be exchangedbetween the parties without the risk of exposure to unauthorized thirdparties. The privacy feature may be enforced by any number of differentencryption procedures that are commonly available and that could beemployed by a computer programmer with the aid of the disclosure of thepreferred embodiments. The privacy feature is invoked once the chat roomis closed to form an occupied chat room.

[0033] Once a service brokerage has multiple service providers, it isready to begin offering those services to users who sign up for accessto services with the service brokerage. As part of the sign up process,a user account is created with the service brokerage. During thisprocess, the user will provide the service brokerage with pertinentbilling information such as the user's name, address (mailing ande-mail) and, preferably, credit card information, and the user willchoose a log-in name (if a pseudonym is desired) and password. Inaddition, the user will indicate his or her time zone, which will beuseful in terms of scheduling future appointments.

[0034] In another configuration, a company such as a product vendor maycontract with one or more third party service providers to provide itscustomer service (e.g. warranty service, technical support) to web siteusers. The company web site (which is in this instance is the servicebrokerage) provides the user with access to service providers of one ormore specialties. The user may log on to the company web site and accessthe service provider by selecting a (private) chat room with a providerof a suitable/desired specialty. That the service provider may be athird party unrelated to the vendor may appear invisible to the user.The user him/herself may be charged in the same way as described in theother embodiments described, or the company may be charged in the sameor similar fashion. The fees may be charged in several fashions: (1) thefees may be charged back to the vendor entirely, (2) the fees may besplit as between the user and the vendor, or (3) the fees may be borneentirely by the user or some other combination. How the fees are paidmay depend upon the particular service being supplied. For example,in-warranty technical service may be paid by the company, whileout-of-warranty technical service may be paid by the user. Of course,any user-paid fees may be allocated as between the company (servicebrokerage) and the service provider by any suitable percentage.

[0035] Thus, for example, a vendor company who supplies a consumerelectronics product may contract out its technical service function to athird party service provider (or a plurality of service providers) yetmaintain both control and contact with its customers accessing itscompany web site. The company may then focus it resources on its corebusiness.

[0036] As was the case with service providers, the service brokerage maydevelop an information file that is specific to an individual user. Thisfile may contain a wide variety of information, such as the type ofservices the user may seek, preferences of the user, areas ofspecialized interest of the user, dates the user may typically seekservices, limitations the user may wish to place on the qualificationsof service providers, personal history or data regarding the user,user's product purchase data and warranty information, or even otherpersonal data files or pictures provided by the user, and so forth.

[0037] Once the service brokerage has a relationship with a user, theservice brokerage may assign the user its own user account. To beginreceiving services, the user would establish a credit or credit line inits user account (or be provided a certain credit for warranty ortechnical support service from the vendor), or the service brokerage andthe user must agree to a payment mechanism, such as periodic billing, bywhich the user will pay for services that it receives. A pre-selectedthreshold of available credit in a user account may be established bythe service brokerage and/or the user, so that the threshold cannot beexceeded within a pre-selected period of time absent a pre-selectedapproval process. For example, the service brokerage could limit theuser to a pre-selected threshold of $1,000 dollars within a month. Oncethat amount is exceeded, no additional credit would be available untilreceipt of payment or a signed copy of a bill for services alreadyrendered so as to ensure the lack of any unauthorized activity in theuser account.

[0038] Similarly, in the case where the service brokerage is paying forall/part of the fees, the service brokerage may limit the user to apre-selected threshold (per event, per month) to limit its customerservice costs.

[0039] In its simplest form, the user account may be charged with a userservice fee for the length of time spent by the user in the occupiedchat room. Such a charge may be based upon actual timed usage, a unit oftime usage, or even a preset not to exceed a threshold unit of timeusage. Although the user may be charged a user service fee after theuser leaves an occupied chat room, it is especially preferred that theuser account be automatically debited with payments for servicesprovided through the service brokerage as they are being provided. Theservice charge may be reduced by coupons/discount codes provided to theuser account.

[0040] As an example of a charge based upon actual timed usage, the userservice fee may be based upon a fixed per minute rate that may easily becalculated and automatically charged to the user account.

[0041] As an example of a unit of time usage (which is longer than theminute of time usage, which is itself really a very short blockedincrement of time), the user service fee may be based upon thresholdlimits or blocked increments of time. In this situation, a user servicefee may be established for blocks of time and the user service fee maybe charged to the user when the increment of time begins, whether it iscompletely used or not. Thus, for example, if the user service fee isbased upon a ten minute block of time, and the user remains in anoccupied chat room for thirty-three minutes, the user's account will becharged four user service fees of ten minutes each while the user is inthe occupied chat room.

[0042] As an example of a blocked unit of time usage, the service feemay be based upon a fixed entry fee to the chat room. In such ascenario, the session with the service provider may automaticallyterminate at the conclusion of the session of a fixed length of time. Anexample of such a service fee might be a one-hour session with a serviceprofessional.

[0043] If the user service fee is not based upon a blocked unit of timeusage, the time that a user may spend in an occupied chat room may belimited based upon a predetermined threshold level. For example, theuser can be kicked out of an occupied chat room if the amount ofavailable credit in the user account goes below a specified value, suchas zero, or the user exceeds a predetermined threshold level of spendingfor the user's account.

[0044] Once a user has a user account with the service brokerage, theservice brokerage may generate a user profile of the user that can beprovided to a service provider to allow that provider to determinewhether the user should be allowed to enter the service provider's chatroom. The service brokerage may also use a pre-selected criterion of theuser to generate a set of private service provider chat rooms to presentto the user. In an especially preferred embodiment, the user profile anduser criteria may be combined to allow more accurate matches of the userto a desired service provider.

[0045] Once a user is allowed to enter a chat room of a service providerby the service provider, the chat room is closed to other users to forman occupied chat room. If another user tries to enter an occupied chatroom, entry will automatically be denied. However, a user desiring entryinto an occupied chat room may be given a schedule that providesinformation as to when the room is expected to be unoccupied. The usermay also be allowed to sign a waiting list for when the chat roombecomes available. When the chat room does become available, the userdesiring entry into the chat room may be notified that the chat room isnow available. In a similar fashion, a user may be given a schedule offuture times as to when the chat room is expected to be on-line, andnotified when the chat room is on-line.

[0046] Depending upon the type of service being provided by the serviceprovider, a considerable amount of time may be saved by allowing theservice provider to view a user information file during the session withthe user. The user information file may also allow a user to provideimportant information to the service provider to maximize the efficiencyof the session with the service provider. In a preferred embodiment, theservice provider may be allowed to modify the contents of the userinformation file while the user is in the service provider's chat room,and the user may be given access to the file after leaving the occupiedchat room. In another especially preferred embodiment, the user and itsuser information file can also be transferred from a first chat roomwith a first service provider to a second chat room with a secondservice provider. In the second chat room, the user information can befurther modified by the second service provider, and then returned tothe user once the user leaves the second chat room.

[0047] To see how a user could benefit from this especially preferredembodiment, a system will hereinafter be described in the context of ahypothetical set of services provided by multiple service providers. Inthis hypothetical example, a user wants to receive advice aboutfinancial planning, the user's stock portfolio and maybe even someinformation about the tax consequences of any change to the user'sportfolio of financial assets. In this example, the user might firstaccess the chat room of a chose financial planner. Prior to entering thechat room, the user could complete a detailed questionnaire so as to setforth the details of all of his or her financial assets, personal data(such as number of dependents and possible requirements for futureeducation of offspring) and key financial goals of the user. Once theuser enters the first chat room, the financial planner could efficientlyevaluate the user's portfolio and goals and make recommendations basedupon the information that the user has previously put into the user'sinformation file. For example, the financial planner might recommendthat the user sell certain financial assets and invest in othercategories of assets. Once the financial planner completes an evaluationof the user, the financial planner's recommendations may be entered inthe user information file for future access by the user or anotherprofessional. If the user wants to immediately consider such changes,the user could be transferred to a professional investment analyst in asecond chat room. This analyst could then pick up the user informationfile, evaluate the recommendations of the financial planner, and enterspecific recommendations into the user's file for change in the user'sfinancial portfolio. The user could then leave the second chat room toresearch the recommendations, or maybe even ask to be transferred to athird chat room to receive advice about the tax consequences if the userwere to follow the specific recommendations of the professionalinvestment analyst. Alternatively, the user might choose to seek asecond opinion from a second professional investment analyst aboutmodifications to the user's portfolio. Throughout this process, theservice providers could interact with the user, and vice versa, to makesure that the user is receiving advice suited to the user's ownindividual preferences and needs.

[0048] Thus, it is readily apparent that the methods according to thepreferred embodiments will allow a user to seek advice from severaldifferent service providers/professionals in a convenient, efficient,and expedient matter, assuming that the user has access to the properset of service providers.

[0049] The preferred embodiments will now be described in even greaterdetail by reference to FIGS. 1 through 5.

[0050] As shown in FIG. 1, a user 10 must initially access a web site 12of the service brokerage (and this access would be via the Internet).Once the site is accessed, the site queries 14 whether the user is amember or not. If the user is not a member, the user 10 must eitherestablish a user account 16 or be denied to services offered through thesite 18. If an account is created, the information 22 is stored in auser database 20 and the user may proceed to a welcome page 24. If theuser 10 is already a member, the user may proceed to the welcome page bya log-in process 30.

[0051]FIG. 2 depicts the sign-in process for a service provider 40 (andthis process would be via the Internet 42). If the service provider 40is not a member of the service brokerage, the service provider is deniedaccess 46. If the service provider is a member of the service brokerage,the service provider logs in 48 and then proceeds to an administrativearea 50. The administrative area 50 is where the service provider 40goes to set a schedule for the provider's services, to establishpreferences for users, to view e-mail, and to establish the serviceprovider's availability for a chat room. Once the service provider 40 isready to begin providing services, the service provider 40 is routed toa chat console 52 where the service provider 40 waits until it agrees toallow a user to enter a chat room 52 with the service provider 40.

[0052]FIG. 3 depicts a collection of service provider web sites or pages60 that can be made available to a user 10. Each chat room 62 canprovide information about the service provider to potential users 64.Such information may include the name of the service provider 40, thenumber of current users signed up for the services of the serviceprovider (if any), the estimated amount of waiting time before a usermay gain access to the chat room (if any), and the user service feeassociated with the services of the service provider. If criteria ofindividual users are used to create individual sets of serviceproviders, then the service providers offered to different users mayvary according to their preferences (or according to the preferences ofthe service providers).

[0053]FIG. 4 depicts a user selection/purchase process for obtainingservices of a chosen service provider. The user 10 views the chat page72 of a chosen service provider and checks on the availability of thechat room through the provider database 74. Once the user 10 chooses toenter this chat room, the user's selection is provided to a memberdatabase 76 and is sent through the process of approving 78 the user'srequest with the service brokerage. Once the request is approved, theuser 10 is directed to a waiting room or area 80 for the chat room ofthe chosen service provider 40.

[0054]FIG. 5 depicts how a user gains entry to a chat room after theuser's request for entry to the chat room has been approved by theservice brokerage. Once a user 10 enters a waiting room 92 for a chosenservice provider's chat room, a request of the user to enter the chatroom 98 is sent to the chat console 94 of the service provider 40, alongwith a user profile stored in member database 102. If the serviceprovider gives the user 10 permission to enter the chat room 98, theservice provider database 96 is updated and both the service provider 40and the user 10 proceed to enter a chat room 98 that is then closed. Atimer keeps track of the time that the chat room is occupied, and theuser and the service provider databases, 102 and 96, are updatedaccording to the time spent by the user 10 in the occupied chat room 98.

[0055] Following are some example methods according to preferredembodiments.

[0056] A method for allowing a user to access a plurality of serviceproviders through a service brokerage via the Internet, comprising thesteps of:

[0057] establishing a private service provider chat room for each of theplurality of service providers that connects the service provider to theservice brokerage via the Internet;

[0058] establishing a user account with the service brokerage;

[0059] logging the user into the service brokerage via the Internet;

[0060] presenting the user with a set of private service provider chatrooms that are on-line, each of said chat rooms being associated with aservice provider selected from the plurality of service providers;

[0061] allowing the user to select a first chat room of a chosen serviceprovider selected from the set of private service provider chat roomsand request entry into the first chat room;

[0062] allowing the chosen service provider to open the first chat roomto the user and then closing the first chat room to form an occupiedchat room;

[0063] allowing the user and the chosen service provider to privatelyinteract in the occupied chat room via the network (e.g. Internet);

[0064] timing the length of time the user spends in the occupied chatroom; and

[0065] charging the user account with a user's service fee for thelength of time spent by the user in the occupied chat room.

[0066] The method may further comprise the steps of:

[0067] establishing a service provider account for each of the pluralityof service providers; and

[0068] crediting the chosen service provider's account with a serviceprovider's fee for the length of time spent by the user in the occupiedchat room.

[0069] The method may further comprise the step of creating a userinformation file with the service brokerage associated with the user.

[0070] In this method the user information file may be available to thechosen service provider in the occupied chat room.

[0071] In this method the chosen service provider may modify the userinformation file while the user is in the occupied chat room.

[0072] In this method the user may have access to the user informationfile after the user leaves the occupied chat room.

[0073] The method may further comprise the steps of:

[0074] transferring the user from the occupied chat room to a secondchat room associated with a second service provider;

[0075] timing the length of time the user spends in the second chatroom; and

[0076] charging the user account a second user service fee for thelength of time spent by the user in the second chat room.

[0077] In this method, the user information file may be made availableto the second service provider in the second chat room.

[0078] In this method the user may have access to the user informationfile after the user leaves the second chat room.

[0079] The method may further comprise the step of presenting the userwith a schedule for the first chat room.

[0080] In this method the schedule may provide information as to whenthe first chat room is expected to be on-line.

[0081] In this method the schedule may provide information as to whenthe first chat room is expected to be unoccupied.

[0082] This method may further comprise the step of allowing the user tosign a waiting list for when the first chat room becomes available.

[0083] This method may further comprise the step of notifying the userwhen the first chat room becomes available.

[0084] In this method the chosen service provider may be provided with auser profile of the user once the user selects the first chat room.

[0085] In this method the chosen service provider may reject the requestof the user to enter the first chat room.

[0086] In this method the user profile may be comprised of a file thatis provided to the service brokerage by the user.

[0087] In this method the user account may be charged the user servicefee while the user is in the occupied chat room.

[0088] The method may further comprise the step of:

[0089] denying the user further access to the occupied chat room if theuser account is below a predetermined threshold value.

[0090] In this method the predetermined threshold value may be zero.

[0091] In this method the set of private service provider chat rooms maybe selected from the plurality of service providers according to apre-selected criterion of the user.

[0092] The method may further comprise the steps of:

[0093] establishing an available amount of credit in the user account bya payment from the user to the service provider;

[0094] reducing the available amount of credit in the user account asthe user account is charged the user service fee while the user is inthe occupied chat room; and

[0095] limiting the amount of time that the user may spend in theoccupied chat room based upon the available amount of credit in the useraccount.

[0096] The method may further comprise the step of establishing apre-selected threshold of available credit that cannot be exceededwithin a pre-selected period of time absent a pre-selected approvalprocess.

[0097] The method may further comprise the step of providing the userwith a coupon to reduce the user service fee for the user's access toone or more of the plurality of service providers according to apre-selected criterion.

[0098]FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a process 150 according to a combinedprivate chat room with the telephone option.

[0099] Commencing at step 152, a user is permitted to establish a useraccount with the service brokerage. Once the account has beenestablished (or if one has been previously established, the systemproceeds to log in the user into the service brokerage (step 154). Oncethe user is logged in and a sufficient credit is arranged (e.g. depositof funds) the service brokerage displays a listing of available serviceproviders (step 156) and allows the user to select a service providerform the list (step 158).

[0100] Next, the system allows the user to select a communication option(step 160). There may be several options, such as (1) direct telephoneoption which may be audio only or video conference; (2) private chatroom option (typing option); (3) private chat room audio, e.g. voiceover IP; (4) private chat room audio and video; (5) a combination of theabove.

[0101] If the user selects the private chat room option, the systemproceeds to allow the chosen service provider to open the first chatroom to the user and then closing the first chat room to form anoccupied chat room (step 162). Once the chat room is closed, the userand the chosen service provider are allowed (step 164) to privatelyinteract in the occupied chat room via the network (e.g. Internet). Thesystem times the length of time the user spends in the occupied chatroom (step 166) and charges the user account with the service fee forthat time spent (step 168). The service provider is credited with anagreed upon portion of the fee or some other agreed upon remuneration(step 169).

[0102] If the user at step 160 has selected the telephone option, thesystem proceeds to step 170 and obtains the phone number from the user.The system may request the user to input his/her telephone number towhich he/she wants the connection be made, or the user profile mayalready have one or more telephone numbers of the user stored, and theuser may select which of the numbers for the connection. Once the phonenumber of the user is obtained, the system obtains (at step 172) thephone number of the service provider. The system should already have theservice provider's telephone number or it could accept an separate inputfrom the service provider.

[0103] Once the telephone numbers are obtained, a call is placed to theuser (step 174) and a request is made to approve the connection.Typically, the request is made via a suitable recorded introduction withinstructions for acceptance by the person answering the phone. Forexample, the recorded in introduction may say “per your selection toarrange for a private conference with your chosen adviser, if you wishto accept the call please say ‘I accept’ or press the number 2 on yourtelephone keypad.” If disapproved, the system passes to step 176.

[0104] If approved, the system passes to step 178 where a call is placedto the service provider and the service provider is given the option ofapproving or dis-approving the connection. If the service providerdis-approves, the system proceeds to step 176 whereby the user and/orservice provider are notified that the telephone connection has not beenapproved.

[0105] Once both the user and the service provider have approved thetelephone connection, the two parties are connected (step 180) and theparties are permitted to conduct the private telephone conference. Inthe embodiment where a third party telecom is providing the telephoneconnection, the system may also send the third party telecom a maximumconnect time, based upon for example the maximum credit available in theuser account. The system, (or the telecom) may send (at step 182) aconfirmation via email or instant message or the like to both the userand/or the service provider that a telephone connection has been made onthis user's account. Control information may be provided (step 184) tothe telecom regarding maximum connection time to be allowed or othersuitable data. The telecom will monitor connection time for the call(step 186 which is completed when one of the parties hangsup/disconnects (step 188).

[0106] The connection information is then sent to the service brokerage(step 190) which then applies the connect time as applicable to the useraccount or other fee arrangement (step 192) and then credits the serviceprovider account in the agreed upon manner (step 194).

[0107] Thus systems and methods for allowing a user to access aplurality of service providers through a service brokerage via a networksuch as the Internet have been shown and described. It will be apparentto those skilled in the art that still further changes and modificationin the actual concepts described herein may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the followingclaims. Accordingly, the present invention is not intended to be limitedexcept as may be required by the lawful scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for allowing a user to access aplurality of service providers through a service brokerage via anetwork, comprising the steps of: establishing a user account with theservice brokerage; logging the user into the service brokerage via thenetwork; presenting the user with a set of private service providers whoare currently on-line and which communication formats are available foreach private service provider, said communication formats includingtelephone and chat room; allowing the user to select a chosen serviceprovider from the set of private service providers, and allowing theuser to select a desired communication format from availablecommunication formats; if the user selects chat room as the desiredcommunication format, effecting chat room communication by the steps of(1) allowing the user to enter the chat room, (2) allowing the user andthe chosen service provider to interact in the first chat room, (3)timing the length of time the user spends in the first chat room, and(4) charging the user account with a user's service fee for the lengthof time spent by the user in the first chat room; if the user selectstelephone as the desired communication format, effecting telephonecommunication by the steps of (1) obtaining a phone number of the user,(2) obtaining a phone number of the chosen service provider, (3) sendingthe phone number of the user and the phone number of the chosen serviceprovider to a third party telecom service provider who arranges fortelephonic connection by the steps of (a) making a call to the user, (b)obtaining acceptance of the call from the user, (c) making a call to thechosen service provider, (d) connecting the calls between the user andthe chosen service provider, (e) timing the length of the call, (f) uponcompletion of the call, sending data corresponding to the length of thecall to the service brokerage, and (4) applying the connect time asapplicable to the user account.
 2. A method according to claim 1 furthercomprising the steps of allowing the chosen service provider to open thefirst chat room to the user and then closing the first chat room to forman occupied chat room; allowing the user and the chosen service providerto privately interact in the occupied chat room.
 3. A method accordingto claim 1, further comprising the step of creating a user informationfile with the service brokerage associated with the user.
 4. A methodaccording to claim 3, wherein the user information file is available tothe chosen service provider in the occupied chat room.
 5. A methodaccording to claim 3, wherein the chosen service provider can modify theuser information file.
 6. A method according to claim 1, wherein thechosen service provider is provided with a user profile of the user oncethe user selects the chosen service provider.
 7. A method according toclaim 6, wherein the chosen service provider can reject the request ofthe user from selecting the chosen service provider.
 8. A methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising the step of presenting the userwith a schedule as to availability of each of the set of private serviceproviders.
 9. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the stepof providing information to the user as to when the private serviceprovider is expected to be available.
 10. A method according to claim 1,further comprising the step of allowing the user to sign a waiting listfor when the chosen service provider becomes available.
 11. A methodaccording to claim 10, further comprising the step of notifying the userwhen the chosen service provider, for which the user has signed thewaiting list, becomes available.
 12. A method according to claim 1,wherein the set of private service providers is selected from theplurality of service providers according to a pre-selected criterion ofthe user.
 13. A method according to claim 1, further comprising thesteps of establishing an available amount of credit in the user accountby a payment from the user to the service provider; reducing theavailable amount of credit in the user account as the user account ischarged the user service fee while the user is in communication with thechosen service provider; and limiting the amount of time that the usercan be in communication with the chosen service provider based upon theavailable amount of credit in the user account.
 14. A method accordingto claim 1, further comprising the step of providing the user with acoupon to reduce the user service fee for the user's access to one ormore of the plurality of service providers according to a pre-selectedcriterion.
 15. A method for allowing a user to access a plurality ofservice providers through a service brokerage via the Internet,comprising the steps of: establishing a private service provider chatroom for each of the plurality of service providers that connects theservice provider to the service brokerage via the Internet; logging auser into the service brokerage via the Internet; presenting the userwith a set of private service provider chat rooms that are on-line, eachof said chat rooms being associated with a service provider selectedfrom the plurality of service providers; allowing the user to select afirst chat room of a chosen service provider selected from the set ofprivate service provider chat rooms and request entry into the firstchat room; allowing the chosen service provider to open the first chatroom to the user and then closing the first chat room to form anoccupied chat room; allowing the user and the chosen service provider toprivately interact in the occupied chat room via the Internet.
 16. Amethod according to claim 15 further comprising the steps of timinglength of time the user spends in the occupied chat room; and creditingan account of the chosen service provider based on the length of timespent by the user in the occupied chat room.
 17. A method according toclaim 15, further comprising the steps of: establishing a serviceprovider account for each of the plurality of service providers; andcrediting the chosen service provider's account with a serviceprovider's fee for the length of time spent by the user in the occupiedchat room.
 18. A method according to claim 15 further comprising thesteps of allowing the chosen service provider to open the first chatroom to the user and then closing the first chat room to form anoccupied chat room; allowing the user and the chosen service provider toprivately interact in the occupied chat room.
 19. A method according toclaim 15, further comprising the step of creating a user informationfile with the service brokerage associated with the user.
 20. A methodaccording to claim 19, wherein the user information file is available tothe chosen service provider in the occupied chat room.
 21. A methodaccording to claim 19, wherein the chosen service provider can modifythe user information file.
 22. A method according to claim 15, whereinthe chosen service provider is provided with a user profile of the useronce the user selects the chosen service provider.
 23. A methodaccording to claim 22, wherein the chosen service provider can rejectthe request of the user from selecting the chosen service provider. 24.A method according to claim 15, further comprising the step ofpresenting the user with a schedule as to availability of each of theset of private service providers.
 25. A method according to claim 15,further comprising the step of providing information to the user as towhen the private service provider is expected to be available.
 26. Amethod according to claim 15, further comprising the step of allowingthe user to sign a waiting list for when the chosen service providerbecomes available.
 27. A method according to claim 26, furthercomprising the step of notifying the user when the chosen serviceprovider, for which the user has signed the waiting list, becomesavailable.
 28. A method according to claim 15, wherein the set ofprivate service providers is selected from the plurality of serviceproviders according to a pre-selected criterion of the user.
 29. Amethod according to claim 15, further comprising the steps ofestablishing an available amount of credit in the user account by apayment from the user to the service provider; reducing the availableamount of credit in the user account as the user account is charged theuser service fee while the user is in communication with the chosenservice provider; and limiting the amount of time that the user can bein communication with the chosen service provider based upon theavailable amount of credit in the user account.
 30. A method accordingto claim 15, further comprising the step of providing the user with acoupon to reduce the user service fee for the user's access to one ormore of the plurality of service providers according to a pre-selectedcriterion.